


Haircut

by captainbrans0n



Category: Alien (1979), Alien: Covenant, Prometheus (2012)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drabble, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Relationship, Probably AU ambiguous timeline, depending on how hard you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 02:31:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11773644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainbrans0n/pseuds/captainbrans0n
Summary: The human mind is complicated.





	Haircut

“You are very human.”

Startled from her actions by the this statement, Daniels whips her head around to look at the source of the noise. Walter. 

“Okay…maybe, it’s because I am one?” Comes her reply, stilted, offered slightly unsure with a dash of sarcasm sprinkled in.

There’s a long pause here, where Daniels is still looking at Walter, and Walter is just looking at Daniels. His head tilts a little, eyes squinting, taking in her expectant expression, hands paused mid-action. She had been giving herself a haircut and Walter had been watching. He has offered many times to cut her hair for her, knowing she liked to keep it short. Because she needed it to– _what was it?_ “Stay out of her fucking eyes while she worked.” _That’s right_ , but every time she has turned him down. 

“What I mean is, those attributes that are associated with your species that I find most perplexing, stubbornness and pride specifically, are ones that you manifest and call upon most frequently. It is…” Glancing down for a moment, she can see he is searching for the correct word.

“Infuriating?” Daniels offers with a slight smile on her lips.

“That would seem to be the best default word, although I am not sure why it is my vocabulary parameters constantly conflate ‘adorable’ with it.”

At this Daniels laughs, “Walter. Are we fighting?”

His eyebrows furrow, and his lips press together. “No. Yes.” A beat. “I do not understand why you will not let me cut your hair for you.” It should have sounded whiny, but coming from Walter, it was just a statement of fact. Bewildered fact. “You insist on cutting your own hair, but then spend days afterward complaining that you didn’t do it correctly, or that you missed a chunk, or cut portions too close. I could easily do this for you, and you would no longer have to worry about any of that.

It is not just in this instance either that you choose to decline aid from not just me, but any of the other colonists as well in other situations. It has been like this with you from the beginning. It is normally not an issue, but–“ He stops here, mouth open, eyes moving back and forth at the ground. Back to searching his database for the correct words. Not finding any, he snaps his mouth shut and looks up at Daniels. _Her turn._

Walter had moved forward during his apparent tirade and was now only a small handful of steps away from Daniels, looking at her with that perplexed look on his face.

He didn’t realize it, but what he said struck a cord in Daniels, one she wasn’t sure could still make sound. So, serious now, she sighs deeply, turns away from Walter and simply says, “Jacob used to cut my hair, Walter.”

Silence.

“You’re right about me, I am proud. I am self-reliant. I don’t want to need anyone, but Jacob and I used to cut each other’s hair. It was one of the things I did rely on him to help me do. I know how to cut hair short. I know how to do it well. Just not on myself. And I almost took you up on your offer this time, I did. But then I–” Daniels throat begins to clam up with emotion, “I just…memories are all I have left of Jake, and I feel guilty for being okay wiping these ones away.”

Walter has nothing. He has nothing to respond to this with. So, he stands there silently. Contemplating what she just admitted.

Walter supposes if he were in her position. If he lost Daniels too, and if his memory banks were faulty and prone to decay…he too would feel acutely, the loss of each memory he had with her, like sand slipping through his fingers.

“I understand.”

Turning back to face him, she sees him taking her in, eyes roaming over her features, looking at her choppy, too short bangs hanging in uneven layers around her face. “You do, don’t you?”

Setting the scissors down, she steps into Walter’s space and wraps her arms around him gently, with familiarity and love.

“Sometimes Walter, you are very human too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I am in the middle of writing I Don't Dream At All. but life is hard and gets in the way. I have been going through a depressive episode on top of stress with work. Don't worry though, I haven't abandoned that story. I just need time. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this little fluffy ficlet I wrote to try and help get my writing juices flowing again.


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